Crew in pickup was driving empty on the 500/4900 road system. The crew changed to the appropriate road channel once on the 4900 road and began calling kilometers. They called at 4938, 4940, 4942, 4944, 4946. The crew did not hear any other traffic calling so they did not call at 4948. While driving over a hill at approximately 4948.25km, the crew met a loaded logging truck traveling in the middle of the road. The loaded truck had to swerve back into his lane and the crew just managed to drive by the truck in their lane and avoid a collision.

Fortunately, when the loaded truck had to swerved abruptly, his load stayed on. Both vehicles continued in the direction they were headed.

The crew then called the truck on the radio and asked him if he could hear theirradio. He said that this was the first time he had heard anybody on the radio.

The crew tested their truck radio back at the office at the end of the day and it wasworking fine on send and receive.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Always drive forestry roads with the assumption that somebody may be coming at you in the other direction at any given time.

Always call road kilometers, even if you don’t hear other traffic on the road.

Inform the client of the close call and suggest that they remind all drivers (pickups and logging trucks) on forestry roads to always call kilometers and conduct radio checks to ensure that radios are working properly.

Pickup 3065 was heading up Branch W 173 in 2nd gear, traveling at approx. 20 km/h, to check on the Cat Operator.

A trainee Cat Operator was driving pickup 3835 down the hill in 3rd gear, traveling at approx. 50-60kmh, to get the grader to assist the Cat Operator with snow removal.

The 3065 was rounding an uphill left hand curve in the road (10% grade) when unexpectedly the 3835, which was carrying a full tidy tank of diesel, appeared rounding the same corner from the opposite direction.

Both drivers, who were wearing seatbelts, braked hard. Due to the short time frame/distance between the two vehicles, the 3065 was able to stop, but was not able to get completely in the clear before the 3835 collided into the front end.

There were no injuries.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Drivers must always drive to the road conditions.

Drivers must expect the unexpected.

Although driving by the radio is not advocated, it is an effective tool that should be used to communicate, especially in upset conditions.

Worker was alone in a pick up, driving to work at 8:00 a.m. There was a trace of snow in the rain. Worker attempted to negotiate a corner on the gravel road but the truck continued to travel straight and left the road, rolling over several times, stopping approximately 60m. down a steep embankment. The worker was wearing his seatbelt. The worker suffered shoulder injuries,cut to his head and bruised legs. He was able to use his radio to contact help.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Slow down.

Pay attention and drive to road conditions.

Continue to reinforce the use of seatbelts.

Annually review drivers abstracts.

Revise call-in procedure to be initiated when an employee leaves his marshalling point, rather than when they arrive at the job site. Had the employee not been able to use his radio there could have been a time lag between assistance being rendered.

4 employees were proceeding at the speed limit along the Stawamus FSR. The road was snow covered at the time of the incident with fresh snow falling. 2 employees were in a company vehicle while the other 2 workers were ahead in a private vehicle. There was radio contact between the trucks and a distance of ~200 meters separated the vehicles. The company vehicle was negotiating a steep section of the FSR when the truck began to slide backwards. The employee had no choice but to maneuver the truck into the ditch. At this point it was decided that chains should be applied to the tires to improve traction in the snowy conditions. The private vehicle returned to the scene and helped the other workers get the vehicle out of the ditch. Even after the chains were applied the company vehicle continued to slide on the road, and it was decided that the FSR was unfit for travel and access to the work area could not be attained safely.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Following this incident it was decided that it would be prudent to upgrade to new winter tires to increase the available traction of the truck. It was also decided that extra shovels and other winter safety equipment should be added to the existing inventories in the truck.

A winter driving Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was developed and distributed to employees to ensure that they were aware of how to negotiate winter driving conditions. It was also stressed to employees that they should check the road and weather conditions before heading out so they are aware of the conditions they might encounter throughout the work day. Lastly it was reiterated that if there was any concern about the safety of the road for travel the employee(s) should not feel obligated to negotiate the road.

Road crew was in an end haul situation, utilizing two rock trucks. One of the trucks was pulled off the road, waiting in a turnout for the other truck to pass. The driver of the parked truck was completing some of his paperwork and although had noticed the other truck further up the road was not watching as the distance between the two trucks closed. The loaded truck was full with end haul materials as well as a large stump, with one of the lateral roots of the stump sticking out of the rock truck box quite far. The driver was not aware of this protruding root. Upon passing the parked truck, the root struck the parked truck’s mirror, pushing it into the driver window and smashing it. The concussion from the impact broke the passenger window as well, as both windows had been rolled up. The driver of the parked truck was showered with broken glass resulting in numerous small cuts to both his face and left hand. The driver of the struck rock truck was cleaned up, crew held an on-site investigation.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Drivers to be aware of the characteristics of their loads,

Drivers to travel at safe speed as determined by road conditions, limitations of the trucks, driver’s experience, and load characteristics.

Drivers to keep volume level of music radios low so not to negatively impact driver’s ability to hear company communications.

The main boom on the self-loading logging truck failed as the driver, in the controller’s seat, was preparing to unload his trailer. The boom was near its maximum height and the center of gravity was over the controller’s position. The pin at the base of the boom sheared. The boom wavered out of control, then collapsed and began to fall toward the controller’s position. The controller saw what was happening and managed to move quickly out of the way (to the roof of the cab) to avoid injury.

Learnings and Suggestions:

The sheared pin was replaced, as well as other pins in the boom that showed any signs of wear. The pin assembly was reinforced by means of plates welded to either side of the assembly to retain the pin as well as retain the integrity of the structure should such a pin failure reoccur. This followed the procedure outlined by other BC operations who have had similar experiences. In addition, in future, once this reinforcement procedure has been completed, visual and magniflux examinations will be performed immediately and every six months thereafter on this and other critically located pins on this equipment.

Semi trailer loaded with rolls of bundling wire was turning off the hiway onto side road. The tie down on the 3rd row of bundle wire broke and allowed the rolls to move back and put excessive pressure on the other rows.

The securement on the back row broke and fell off the trailer. The road way had about a 5% grade, so the rolls, rolled down the hill. One came to rest under the rear of a flat bed truck. There was minimal damage to the flat bed truck.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Use securement devices that are adequate for the cargo being carried.

Make sure the trailer is designed for the type of cargo being carried.

Make sure you know what cargo you are loading and have the proper materials to transport safely.

On October 18, 2007 a non-injury accident occurred on one of BCTS’s cut blocks. A large green spruce tree, from a small WTP blew over and hit the engine compartment of an empty logging truck causing approximately $ 35,000 of damage. Prior to the event, the tree was assessed by the logger and was deemed to be a healthy green tree and not a safety hazard.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Whenever practical, in the planning phase, minimize susceptibility to windthrow or locate reserve timber at least one and one-half tree lengths away from travel corridors or work areas (landings). In situations where this is not possible, consider falling or stubbing windthrow susceptible trees that may impact a travel corridor or work area. Other considerations in interface areas may include deferment or alteration of operations during high wind events.